Sexually transmitted diseases exact a heavy toll on society. Annually, the number of STD cases exceed over 13 million in the United States and over 250 million cases worldwide. There is a current shortage of young clinical investigators, especially in areas with enormous public health import-such as STDs. Johns Hopkins has had a long tradition of performing clinical research in STDs and public health prevention, and provides a supportive setting for mentoring new investigators. As part of this proposal, and building on our past successful experiences in mentoring investigators, the awardee will develop a mentoring program which will include: Clinical experiences in the Baltimore STD clinics and Johns Hopkins AIDS Service; Epidemiology and biostatistical training to enhance the young investigators knowledge base of study design and data management issues, and presentation skills. The investigators will be expected to develop an independent research project resulting in presentation at national meetings and publication.